Good Eatin’ – Kaffir Lime Leaves from Hello Fresh

List Item: Try three quarters of the 1001 Foods You Must Try Before You DieFood item: Kaffir Lime Leaf

Kaffir lime leaves are one of the few remaining ‘easy foods’ that I had left on the food list. Since I had only ever seen these as dried herbs I gave myself the challenge to only tick this off once I came across fresh leaves. Little did I know that I would come across these accidentally thanks to my mum’s Hello Fresh subscription.

I don’t know what I expected from the fresh leaves, but it wasn’t for them to feel so waxy. I guess that’s what tropical plants would have evolved their leaves to be like to help preserve water, just not what you would normally find in a culinary plant (at least not in the UK).

As with most entries from the book’s aromatic section, you don’t consume kaffir lime leaves as they are – you cook with them. That didn’t stop me from giving the fresh leaf a bit of a nibble though.

So how does a fresh kaffir lime leaf taste? Incredibly strong. It’s how I would imagine it would taste if you licked a citrus-scented bath bomb. It’s not completely unpleasant, but you wouldn’t want more than a small taste of this.

When cooked, for this Hello Fresh box it was part of a chicken laksa kit, the lime leaves impart a warming citrus taste. It a lot like adding lemon pepper to a dish, only fresher and less hot.

I have to say that I am glad that I waited to try out the fresh version of the leaves. It made for a different, and slightly more special, way to cross off this item. More so than if I had just grabbed dried ones from Waitrose.